twilight ehat if
by elsannafan55
Summary: AU what if Elsa and the Cullens didn't get to Anna in time when Hans tricked her. still doing breaking Dawn but I always thought what if. so review tell me what you think
1. choice

ANOTHER SCREAM ON TOP OF MINE—A SHRIEK LIKE A CHAINSAW CUTTING through rebar.

The hunter lunged, but his teeth snapped closed an inch from my face as something yanked him back, flung him out of my sight.

The fire pooled in the crease of my elbow, and I screamed.

I wasn't alone, there were others screaming—the metallic snarl was joined by a high keening that bounced off the walls and then cut off suddenly. A thrumming growl was grinding underneath the other sounds. More metal tearing, shredding…

"No!" someone howled in an agony to match mine. "No, no, no, no!"

This voice meant something to me, even through the burning that was so much more than that. Though the flames had reached my shoulder, this voice still claimed my attention. Even screaming, she sounded like an angel.

"Anna, please," Elsa sobbed. "Please, please, please, Anna, please!"

I tried to answer, but my mouth was disconnected from the rest of me. My screams were gone, but only because there was no more air.

"Carlisle" Elsa shrieked. "Help me! Anna, please, please, Anna, please!"

She was cradling my head in her lap, and her fingers were pressing hard against my scalp. Her face was unfocused, just like the hunter's. I was falling down a tunnel in my head. The fire was coming with me, though, just as sharp as before.

Something cool blew into my mouth, filling my lungs. My lungs pushed back. Another cool breath.

Elsa came into focus, her perfect face twisted and tortured.

"Keep breathing, Anna. Breathe."

She put her lips against mine and filled my lungs again.

There was gold around the edges of my vision—another set of cold hands.

"Alice, make splints for her leg and arm. Elsa, straighten out her airways. Which is the worst bleed?"

"Here, Carlisle."

I stared at her face while the pressure against my head eased. My screams were just a broken whimper now. The pain wasn't any less—it was worse. But the screaming didn't help me, and it did hurt Elsa. As long as I kept my eyes on her face, I could remember something beyond the burning.

"My bag, please. Hold your breath, Alice, it will help. Thank you, Emmett, now leave, please. She's lost blood, but the wounds aren't too deep. I think her ribs are the biggest problem now. Find me tape."

"Something for the pain," Elsa hissed.

"There—I don't have hands. Will you?"

"This will make it better," Elsa promised.

Someone was straightening my leg. Elsa was holding her breath, waiting, I think, for me to react. But it didn't hurt like my arm.

"Elsa—"

"Shhh, Anna, it's going to be okay. I swear, it's going to be fine."

"E—it's—not—"

Something was digging into my scalp and something else was yanking tight against my broken arm. This tweaked my ribs, and I lost my breath.

"Hold on, Anna" Elsa begged. "Please just hold on."

I labored to pull in another breath.

"Not—ribs," I choked. "Hand."

"Can you understand her?" Carlisle's voice was right next to my head.

"Just rest, Anna. Breathe."

"No—hand," I gasped out. "Elsa—right hand!"

I couldn't feel her cold hands on my skin—the fire was too hot. But I heard her gasp.

"No!"

"Elsa?" Carlisle asked, startled.

"He bit her." Elsas voice had no volume, like she'd run out of air, too.

Carlisle caught his breath in horror.

"What do I do, Carlisle?" Elsa demanded.

No one answered her. The tugging continued on my scalp, but it didn't hurt.

"Yes," Elsa said through her teeth. "I can try. Alice—scalpel."

"There's a good chance you'll kill her yourself," Alice said.

"Give it to me," she snapped. "I can do this."

I didn't see what she did with the scalpel. I couldn't feel anything else in my body anymore—nothing but the fire in my arm. But I watched her raise my hand to her mouth, like the hunter had. Fresh blood was welling from the wound. She put her lips over it.

I screamed again, I couldn't help it. It was like she was pulling the fire back down my arm.

"Elsa" Alice said.

She didn't react, her lips still pressed to my hand. The fire warred up and down my arm, sawing back and forth. Moans escaped through my clenched teeth.

"Elsa" Alice shouted. "Look."

"What is it, Alice?" Carlisle asked.

Alice's hand shot out and slapped Elsa's cheek.

"Stop it, Elsa! Stop it now!"

My hand dropped away from her face. She looked at Alice with her eyes so wide they seemed like half her face. She gasped.

"Alice!" Carlisle barked.

"It's too late," Alice said. "We got here too late."

"You can see it?" Carlisle said in a more subdued voice.

"There are only two futures left, Carlisle. She survives as one of us, or Elsa kills her trying to stop it from happening."

"No," Elsa moaned.

Carlisle was quiet. The tugging against my scalp slowed.

Elsa dropped her face to mine. She kissed my eyelids, my cheeks, my lips. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"It doesn't need to be this slow," Archie complained. "Carlisle?"

"I made an oath, Alice."

"I didn't," she snarled.

"Wait, wait," Elsa said, her head snapping up. "She deserves a choice."

Her lips were at my ear. I clamped my teeth against the moaning, straining to listen.

"Anna? I won't make this decision for you. I won't take this away from you. And I'll understand, I promise, Anna. If you don't want to live like this, I won't fight you. I'll respect what you want. I know it's a horrible choice. I would give you any other option if I could. I would die if I could give your life back to you." Her voice broke. "But I can't make that trade. I can't do anything—except stop the pain. If that's what you want. You don't have to be this. I can let you go—if that's what you need." It sounded like she was sobbing again. "Tell me what you want, Anna. Anything."

"You," I spit through my teeth. "Just you."

"Are you sure?" she whispered.

I groaned. The fire was reaching its fingers into my chest. "Yes," I coughed out. "Just—let me stay—with you."

"Out of my way, Elsa," Alice growled.

Her voice lashed back like a whip. "I didn't make any oaths, either."

Her face was at my throat, and I couldn't feel anything besides the fire, but I could hear the quiet sound of her teeth cutting through my skin.


	2. forever

I ENDED UP CHANGING MY MIND.

The fire in my arm wasn't really so bad—the worst thing I'd ever felt up to that point, yes. But not the same as my entire body on fire.

I begged her to make it stop. I told her that this was really all I wanted. For the burning to stop. Nothing else.

I heard Alice telling her that everyone had said the same thing—reminding her that she'd begged Carlisle to kill her, too. Telling her my first decision was the one that counted.

I remember at one point screaming at her to shut up.

I think she apologized.

But mostly it was hard to pay attention to what was happening outside the fire. I know they moved me. It seemed like I was on the bloody, vomit-covered wood floor for a long time, but it was hard to judge how the minutes passed. Sometimes Carlisle would say something and it would feel like a year had passed before Alice answered him, but it was probably just the fire that made the seconds into years.

And then someone carried me. I saw the sun for another year-long second—it looked pale and cool. Then everything was dark. It was dark for a long time.

I could still see Elsa. She held me in her arms, my face near hers, one of her hands on my cheek. Alice was nearby, too. I think she had my legs.

When I screamed, she apologized, over and over again. I tried not to scream. It didn't do any good. There was no relief, no release in it. The fire didn't care what I did. It just burned.

When my eyes were in focus, I could see dim lights moving across Elsa's face, though all around her head it was just black. Aside from her voice and mine, the only sound was a deep, constant thrumming. Sometimes it got louder, and then it was quiet again.

I didn't realize I was back in the black car until it stopped. I didn't hear the door open, but the sudden flash of light was blinding. I must have recoiled from it, because Elsa crooned in my ear.

"We're just stopping to refill the gas tank. We'll be home soon, Anna. You're doing so well. This will be over soon. I am so sorry."

I couldn't feel her hand against my face—it should have been cool, but nothing was cool anymore. I tried to reach for it, but I couldn't exactly tell what my limbs were doing. I think I was thrashing some, but Elsa and Alice kept me contained. Elsa guessed what I wanted. She grabbed my hand and held it to her lips. I wished I could feel it. I tried to grip her hand without knowing how to make the muscles move, or being able to feel them. Maybe I got it right. She didn't let go.

It got darker. Eventually, I couldn't see her anymore. It was black as ink inside the car—there was no difference between having my eyes open or closed. I started to panic. The fire made the night like a sensory deprivation chamber; I couldn't feel anything but pain—not the seat beneath me, not Alice restraining my legs, not Elsa holding my head, my hand. I was all alone with the burning, and I was terrified.

I don't know what I must have gasped out—my voice was totally gone now, either raw from screaming or burned past usability, I couldn't gues which—but Elsas voice was in my ear again.

"I'm right here, Anna. You're not alone. I won't leave you. I will be here. Listen to my voice. I'm here with you.…"

Her voice calmed me—made the panic go away, if not the pain. I listened, keeping my breathing shallow so I could hear her better. I didn't need to scream anymore. The burning only got more and never less, but I was adapting. It was all I could feel, but not all I could think about.

"I never wanted this for you, Anna," Elsa continued. "I would give anything to take this away. I've made so many mistakes. I should have stayed away from you, from the first day. I should never have come back again. I've destroyed your life, I've taken everything from you.…" It sounded like she was sobbing again.

"No," I tried to say, but I'm not sure if I even shaped the word with my mouth.

"She's probably far enough along that she'll remember this," Alice said softly.

"I hope so," Elsa said, her voice breaking.

I'm just saying, you might use the time more productively. There is so much she doesn't know."

"You're right, you're right." She sighed. "Where do I begin?"

"You could explain about being thirsty," Alice suggested. "That was the hardest part, when I first woke up. And we'll be expecting a lot from her."

When Elsa answered, it was like she was spitting the words through her teeth. "I won't hold her to that. She didn't choose this. She's free to become whatever she wants to be."

"Hah," Alice said. "You know her better than that, Elsa. The other way won't be good enough for her. Do you see? She'll be fine."

It was quiet while she tuned in to whatever Alice was seeing inside her head. Though I understood the silence, it still left me alone in the fire. I started panicking again.

"I'm here, Anna, I'm here. Don't be afraid." She took a deep breath. "I'll keep talking. There are so many things to tell you. The first one is that when this passes, when you're…new, you won't be exactly the same as I am, not in the very beginning. Being a young vampire means certain things, and the hardest to ignore is the thirst. You'll be thirsty—all the time. You won't be able to think about much else for a while. Maybe a year, maybe two. It's different for everyone. As soon as this is over, I'll take you hunting. You wanted to see that, didn't you? We'll bring Emmett so you can see his bear impression—" She laughed once, a damaged little sound. "If you decide—if you want to live like us, it will be hard. Especially in the beginning. It might be too hard, and I understand that. We all do. If you want to try it my way, I'll go with you. I can tell you who the human monsters are. There are options. Whatever you want. If…if you don't want me with you, I'll understand that, too, Anna. I swear I won't follow you if you tell me not to—"

"No," I gasped. I heard myself that time, so I knew I'd done it right.

"You don't have to make any more decisions now. There's time for that. Just know that I will respect any decision you make." She took another deep breath. "I should probably warn you about your eyes. They won't be blue anymore." Another half-sob. "But don't let them frighten you. They won't stay so bright for long.

"I suppose that's a very small thing, though.…I should focus on the most important things. The hard things—the very worst thing. Oh, I'm so sorry, Anna. You can't see your father or mother again. It's not safe. You would hurt them—you wouldn't be able to help yourself. And…there are rules. Rules that, as your creator, I'm bound by. We'd both be held responsible if you ran out of control. Oh—" Her breath caught. "There's so much she doesn't know, Alice."

"We've got time, Elsa. Just relax. Take it slow."

I heard her inhale again.

"The rules," she said. "One rule with a thousand different permutations—the reality of vampires must be kept secret. That means newborn vampires must be controlled. I will teach you—I'll keep you safe, I promise." Another sigh. "And you can't tell anyone what you are. I broke that rule. I didn't think it could hurt you—that anyone would ever find out. I should have known that just being near you would eventually destroy you. I should have known I would ruin your life—that I was lying to myself about any other path being possible. I've done everything wrong—"

"You're letting self-castigation get in the way of information again, Elsa."

"Right, right." A deep breath. "Anna. Do you remember the painting in Carlisle's study—the nighttime patrons of the arts I told you about? They're called the Volturi—they are…for the lack of a better word, the police of our world. I'll tell you more about them in a bit—you just need to know that they exist, so that I can explain why you can't tell David or your mother where you are. You can't talk to them again, Anna." Her voice was straining higher, like it was about to fracture. "It's best…we don't have much choice but to let them think you're dead. I'm so sorry. You didn't even get to say goodbye. It's not fair!"

There was a long pause while I could hear her breath hitching.

"Why don't you go back to the Volturi?" Alice suggested. "Keep emotion out of it."

"You're right," she repeated in a whisper. "Ready to learn a new world history, Anna?"

She talked all night without a break, until the sun came up and I could see her face again. She told me stories that sounded like dark fairy tales. I was beginning to grasp the edges of how big this world was, but I knew it would be a long time before I totally comprehended the size of it.

She told me about the people I'd seen in the painting with Carlisle—the Volturi. How they'd joined forces during the Mycenaean age, and begun a millennia-long campaign to create peace and order in the vampire world. How there had been six of them in the beginning. How betrayal and murder had cut them in half. Someone named Aro had murdered his sister—his best friend's wife. The best friend was Marcus—he was the man I'd seen standing with Carlisle. Aro's own wife—Sulpicia, the one with all the masses of dark hair in the painting—had been the only witness. She'd turned him over to Marcus and their soldiers. There had been some question of what to do—Aro had a very powerful extra gift, like what Elsa had, but more, she said—and the Volturi weren't sure they'd be able to succeed without him. But Sulpicia searched out a young girl—Mele, the one Elsa had called a servant and a thief—who had a gift of her own. She could absorb another vampire's gift. She couldn't use that stolen gift herself, but she could give it to someone else who she was touching. Sulpicia had Mele take Aro's gift, and then Marcus executed him. Once she had her husband's gift, Sulpicia found out that the third man in their group was in on the plot. He was executed, too, and his wife—Athenodora—joined with Sulpicia and Marcus to lead their soldiers. They overthrew the vampires who terrorized Europe, and then the ones who enslaved Egypt. Once they were in charge, they made regulations that kept the vampire world hidden and safe

I listened as much as I could. It wasn't a distraction from the pain—there was no escape. But it was better to think about than the fire.

Elsa said the Volturi were the ones who'd made up all the stories about crosses and holy water and mirrors. Over the centuries, they made all reports of vampires into myth. And now they continued to keep it that way. Vampires would stay in the shadows…or there would be consequences.

So I couldn't go to my dad's house and let him see the eyes that Elsa said would be bright. I couldn't drive to Florida and hug my mom and let her know that I wasn't dead. I couldn't even call her and explain the confusing message I'd left on her answering machine. If there was anything in the news, if any rumor spread that something unnatural was involved, the Volturi soldiers might come to investigate.

I had to disappear quietly.

The fire hurt more than hearing these things. But I knew that wouldn't always be the way it was. Soon, this would hurt the most.

Elsa moved on quickly—telling me about their friends in Canada who lived the same way. Three blond Russian siblings and two Spanish vampires who were the Cullens' closest family. She told me that two of them had extra powers—Kate could do something electrical, and knew the talents of every vampire she met.

She told me about other friends, all over the world. In Ireland and Brazil and Egypt. So many names. Eventually Alice stepped in again and told her to prioritize.

Elsa told me that I would never age. That I would always be seventeen, like she was. That the world would change around me, and I would remember all of it, never forgetting one second.

She told me how the Cullens lived—how they moved from cloudy place to cloudy place. Esme would restore a house for them. Alice would invest their assets with amazingly good returns. They would decide on a story to explain their relationships to each other, and Jasper would create new names and new documented pasts for each of them. Carlisle would take a job in a hospital with his new credentials, or he'd return to school to study a new field. If the location looked promising, the younger Cullens would pretend to be even younger than they were, so they could stay longer.

After my time as a new vampire was up, I would be able to go back to school. But my education wouldn't have to wait. I had a lot of time ahead of me, and I would remember everything I read or heard.

I would never sleep again.

Food would be disgusting to me. I would never be hungry again, only thirsty.

I would never get sick. I would never feel tired.

I would be able to run faster than a race car. I'd be stronger than any other living species on the planet.

I wouldn't need to breathe.

I would be able to see more clearly, hear even the smallest sound.

My heart would finish beating tomorrow or the next day, and it would never beat again.

I would be a vampire.

One good thing about the burning—it let me hear all this with some distance. It let me process what she was telling me without emotion. I knew the emotion would come later.

When it was starting to get dark again, our journey was over. Elsa carried me into the house like I was a child, and sat with me in the big room. The background behind her face went from black to white. I could see her much more clearly now, and I didn't think it was just the light.

In her eyes, my face reflected back, and I was surprised to see that it looked like a face and not a charcoal briquette—though a face in anguish. Still, maybe I wasn't the pile of ash I felt like.

She told me stories to fill the time, and the others took turns helping her. Carlisle sat on the ground next to me and told me the most amazing story about Kristoff's family—that his great-grandfather had actually been a werewolf. All the things Kristoff had scoffed about were straight history. Carlisle told me he'd promised them he would never bite another human. It was part of the treaty between them, the treaty that meant the Cullens could never go due west to the ocean.

Jasper told me his story after all. I guess he'd decided I was ready now. I was glad, when he did, that my emotions were mostly buried under the fire. He'd lost family, too, when the woman who created him stole him without warning. He told me about the army he'd belonged to, a life of carnage and death, and then breaking free. He told me about the day Alice had let him find her.

Esme told me how her life had ended before she'd killed herself, about her unstable, alcoholic husband and the daughter she'd loved more than her own soul. She told me about the night when her husband, in a drunken rampage, had jumped off a cliff with her little daughter in his arms hours after her birth, and how she hadn't been able to do anything but follow after them. Then she told me how, after the pain, there had been the most beautiful man in a doctor's uniform—a doctor she recognized from a happier time in another place when she was just a young woman. A doctor who hadn't aged at all.

Emmett told me about being attacked by a bear, and then seeing an angel who took him to Carlisle instead of to heaven. He told me how he'd thought at first he'd been sent to hell—justly, he admitted—and then how he got into heaven after all.

He was the one who told me that the blackhead had gotten away. She'd never come near David after the one time that she'd searched David's house. When we'd all gotten back to Forks, he, Royal, and Jasper had followed the woman's trail as far as they could; it disappeared into the Salish Sea and they hadn't been able to find the place where she came back out. For all they knew, she'd swum straight out to the Pacific and on to another continent. She must have assumed that Hans had lost the fight and realized it was smarter to disappear.

Even Royal took a turn. He told me about a life consumed with vanity, with material things, with ambition. He told me about the only son of a powerful man—exactly what kind of power this man wielded, Royal hadn't entirely understood—and how Royal had planned to be with him and become heir to the dynasty. How the handsome son pretended to love him , and then how he had watched when his friends from a rival criminal syndicate had Royal beaten to death, how he'd laughed aloud the whole time. He told me about the revenge he'd gotten. Royal was the least careful with his words. He told me about losing his family, and how none of this was worth what he'd lost.

Elsa had whispered Emmett's name; he'd growled once and left.

I think it must have been while Royal or Emmett was talking that Alice watched Hans's video from the dance studio. When Royal was gone, Alice took her spot. At first I wasn't sure what they were talking about, because only Elsa was speaking out loud, but eventually I caught up. Alice was searching right there on her laptop, trying to narrow down the options of where she'd been kept in her human life. I was glad she didn't seem to mention anything else about the tape—the focus was all on her past. I was trying to remember how to use my voice so that I could stop her if she tried to say anything about the rest of it. I hoped Alice was smart enough to have destroyed the tape before Elsa. could watch.

The stories helped me think of other things, prepare myself, while the fire burned, but I was only able to pay partial attention. My mind was cataloguing the fire, experiencing it in new ways. It was amazing how each inch of my skin, each millimeter, was so distinct. It was like I could feel all my cells burning individually. I could feel the difference between the pain in the walls of my lungs, and the way the fire felt in the soles of my feet, inside my eyeballs, and down my spine. All the different agonies clearly separated.

I could hear my heart thudding—it seemed so loud. Like it had been hooked to an amp. I could hear other things, too. Mostly Elsas voice, sometimes the others talking—though I couldn't see them. I heard music once, but I didn't know where it was coming from.

It seemed like I was on the couch, my head in Elsa's lap, for several years. The lights stayed bright, so I didn't know if it was night or day. But Elsa's eyes were always gold, so I guessed that the fire was lying about the time again.

I was so aware of every nerve ending in my body that I knew it immediately when something changed.

It started with my toes. I couldn't feel them. It seemed like the fire had finally won, that it had started burning off pieces of me. Elsa had said I was changing, not dying, but in this moment of panic I thought she'd gotten it wrong. Maybe this vampire thing wouldn't work on me. Maybe all this burning had been just a slow way to die. The worst way.

Elsa felt me freaking out again, and she started humming in my ear. I tried to look at the positives. If it was killing me, at least it would be over. And if it was going to end, at least I was in Elsa's arms for the rest of my life.

And then I realized that my toes were still there, they just weren't burning anymore. In fact, the fire was pulling out of the soles of my feet, too. I was glad I'd made sense of what was happening, because my fingertips were next. No need for more panic, maybe a reason for hope. The fire was leaving.

Only it seemed to be doing more than leaving—it was…moving. All the fire that receded from my extremities seemed to be draining into the center of my body, stoking the blaze there so that it was hotter than before.

I couldn't believe there was such a thing as hotter.

My heart—already so loud—starting beating faster. The core of the fire seemed to be centered there. It was sucking the flames in from my hands and my ankles, leaving them pain-free, but multiplying the heat and pain in my heart.

"Carlisle," Elsa called.

Carlisle walked into the room, and the amazing part about that was that I heard him. Elsa and her family never made any noise when they moved. But now, if I listened, I could hear the low sound of Carlisles lips brushing together as he spoke.

"Ah. It's almost over."

I wanted to be relieved, but the growing agony in my chest made it impossible to feel anything else. I stared up at Elsa's face. She was more beautiful than she had ever been, because I could see her better than I ever had. But I couldn't really appreciate her. So much pain.

"Elsa?" I gasped.

"You're all right, Anna. It's ending. I'm sorry, I know. I remember."

The fire ripped hotter through my heart, dragging the flames up from my elbows and knees. I thought about Elsa going through this, suffering this way, and it put a different perspective on my pain. She didn't even know Carlisle then. She didn't know what was happening to her. She hadn't been held the whole time in the arms of someone she loved.

The pain was almost gone from everywhere but my chest. The only leftover was my throat, but it was a different kind of burn now…drier…irritating.…

I heard more footsteps, and I was pretty sure I could tell the difference between them. The decisive, confident step was Emmett, I was positive. Alice was the quicker, more rhythmic motion. Esme was a little slower, thoughtful. Jasper was the one who stopped by the door. I thought I heard Royal breathing behind him.

And then—

"Aaah!"

My heart took off, beating like helicopter blades, the sound almost a single sustained note. It felt like it would grind through my ribs. The fire flared up in the center of my chest, sucking all the flames from the rest of my body to fuel the most painful burn yet. It was enough to stun me. My body bowed like the fire was dragging me upward by my heart.

It felt like a war inside me—my racing heart blitzing against the raging fire. They were both losing.

The fire constricted tighter, concentrating into one fist-sized ball of pain with a final, unbearable surge. The surge was answered by a deep, hollow-sounding thud. My heart stuttered twice, then thudded quietly again one more time.

There was no sound. No breathing. Not even mine.

For a second, all I could process was the absence of pain. The dull, dry afterburn in my throat was easy to ignore, because every other part of me felt amazing. The release was an incredible high.

I stared up at Elsa in wonder. I felt like I'd taken off a blindfold I'd been wearing all my life. What a view.

"Anna?" she asked. Now that I could really concentrate on it, the beauty of her voice was unreal.

"It's disorienting, I know. You get used to it."

Could you get used to hearing a voice like this? Seeing a face like that?

"Elsa," I said, and the sound of my own voice jolted me. Was that me? It didn't sound like me. It didn't sound…human.

Unnerved, I reached out to touch her cheek. In the same instant that the desire to touch her entered my mind, my hand was cradling the side of her face. There was no in-between—no process of lifting my hand, watching it move to its destination. It was just there.

"Huh."

She leaned into my touch, put her hand over mine, and held it against her face. It was strange because it was familiar—I'd always loved it when she'd done that, to see that she so obviously liked it when I touched her that way, that it meant something to her. But it was also nothing the same. Her face wasn't cold anymore. Her hand felt right against mine. There was no difference between us now.

I stared into her eyes, then looked closer at the picture reflected in them.

"Ahh…" A little gasp escaped my throat by accident, and I felt my body lock down in surprise. It was weird—it felt like the natural thing to do, to be a statue because I was shocked.

"What is it, Anna?" She leaned closer, concerned, but that just brought the reflection closer.

"The eyes?" I breathed.

She sighed, and wrinkled her nose. "It goes away," she promised. "I terrified myself every time I looked in a mirror for six months."

"Six months," I murmured. "And then they'll be gold like yours?"

She looked away, over the back of the couch, to someone standing there behind us where I couldn't see. I wanted to sit up and look around, but I was a little afraid to move. My body felt so strange.

"That depends on your diet, Anna" Carlisle said calmly. "If you hunt like we do, your eyes will eventually turn this color. If not, your eyes will look like Lauren's did."

I decided to try sitting up.

And like before, thinking was doing. Without any movement, I was upright. Elsa kept my hand in hers as it left her face.

Behind the sofa, they were all there, watching. I'd been one hundred percent with my guesses—Carlisle closest, then Emmett, Alice, and Esme. Jasper in the doorway to another room with Royal watching over his shoulder.

I looked at their faces, shocked again. If my brain hadn't been so much…roomier than before, I would have forgotten what I was about to say. As it was, I recovered pretty fast.

"No, I want to do it your way," I said to Carlisle. "That's the right thing to do."

Carlisle smiled. It would have knocked the breath out of me if I'd had to breathe.

"If only it were so easy. But that's a noble choice. We'll help you all we can."

Elsa touched my arm. "We should hunt now, Anna. It will make your throat hurt less."

When she mentioned my throat, the dry burn there was suddenly at the forefront of my mind. I swallowed. But…

"Hunt?" my new voice asked. "I, uh, well, I've never been hunting before. Not even like normal hunting with rifles, so I don't really think I could…I mean, I have no idea how.…"

Emmett chuckled under his breath.

Elsa smiled. "I'll show you. It's very easy, very natural. Didn't you want to see me hunt?"

"Just us?" I checked.

She looked confused for a fraction of a second, and then her face was smooth. "Of course. Whatever you want. Come with me, Anna."

And she was on her feet, still holding my hand. Then I was on my feet, too, and it was so simple to move, I wondered why I'd been afraid to try. Anything I wanted this body to do, it did.

She darted to the back wall of the big room—the glass wall that was a mirror now because it was night outside. I saw the two pale figures flashing by and I stopped. The strange thing was that when I stopped, it was so sudden that Elsa kept going, still holding my hand, and though she was still pulling, I didn't move. My grip on her hand pulled her back. Like it was nothing.

But I was only noticing that with part of my brain. Mostly I was looking at my reflection.

I'd seen my face warped around the convex shape of her eyes, just the center, lacking the edges. I'd only really seen my eyes—brilliant, almost glowing red—and that had been enough to pull my focus. Now I saw my whole face—my neck, my arms.

If someone had cut an outline of my human self, this version would still fit into that space. But though I took up the same volume, all the angles were different. Harder, more pronounced. Like someone had made an ice sculpture of me and left the edges sharp.

My eyes—it was hard to look around the color, but the shape of them, too, seemed different. So vaguely, like I was remembering something I'd seen only through muddy water—I remembered how my eyes used to look. Undecided. Like I was never sure who I was. Then, after Elsa—still so hard to see in my memory, uncomfortable to try—they were suddenly more resolved.

These eyes had gone one step further than resolved—they were savage. If I walked into this self in a dark alley, I would be terrified of me.

Which was the point, I guess. People were supposed to be afraid of me now.

I still wore my bloodstained jeans, but I had an unfamiliar, pale blue shirt on. I didn't remember that happening, but I could understand; vampire or human, no one wanted to hang around with someone drenched in vomit.

"Whoa," I said. I locked eyes with Elsa in the reflection.

This was strange, too. Because the Anna in the mirror looked…right next to Elsa. Like she belonged. Not like before, when people could only imagine that she was taking pity on me.

"It's a lot," she said.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Okay."

She pulled on my hand again, and I followed. Before a fourth of a second had passed, we were through the glass doors behind the stairs and on the back lawn.

There were no moon and no stars—the clouds were too thick. It should have been pitch-black outside the rectangle of light shining through the glass wall, but it wasn't. I could see everything.

"Whoa," I said again. "That is so cool."

Elsa looked at me like she was surprised by my reaction. Had she forgotten what it was like the first time she saw the world through vampire eyes? I thought she'd said I wouldn't forget things anymore.

"We're going to have to go a ways out into the woods," she told me. "Just in case."

I remembered the gist of what she'd told me about hunting. "Right. So there aren't any people around. Got it."

Again—that same surprised look flashed across her face and then was gone.

"Follow me," she said.

She whipped down the lawn so fast that I knew she would have been invisible to my old eyes. Then, at the edge of the river, she launched herself into a high arc that spun her over the river and into the trees beyond.

"Really?" I called after her.

I heard her laugh. "I promise, it's easy."

Great.

I sighed, then started running.

Running had never been my forte. I was all right on a flat track, if I was paying enough attention and I kept my eyes on my feet. Okay, honestly, even then I was still able to tangle my feet up and go down.

This was so different. I was flying—flying down the lawn, faster than I'd ever moved, but it was only too simple to put my feet exactly where they were supposed to go. I could feel all of my muscles, almost see the connections as they worked together, will them to do exactly what I needed. When I got to the edge of the river I didn't even pause. I pushed off the same rock she'd used, and then I was really flying. The river slipped away behind me as I rocketed through the air. I passed where she'd landed and then fell down into the wood.

I felt an instant of panic when I realized I hadn't even considered the landing, but then my hand already seemed to know how to catch a thick branch and angle my body so that my feet hit the ground with barely a sound.

"Holy crow," I breathed in total disbelief.

I heard Elsa running through the trees, and already her gait was as familiar to me as the sound of my own breathing. I was sure I could tell the difference between the sound of her footfalls and anyone else's.

"We have to do that again!" I said as soon as I saw her.

She paused a few feet away from me, and a frustrated expression that I knew well crossed her face.

I laughed. "What do you want to know? I'll tell you what I'm thinking."

She frowned. "I don't understand. You're…in a very good mood."

"Oh. Is that wrong?"

"Aren't you incredibly thirsty?"

I swallowed against the burn. It was bad, but not as bad as the rest of the fire I'd just left behind. The thirst-burn was always there, and it got worse when I focused on it, but there were so many other things to focus on. "Yes, when I think about it."

Elsa squared her shoulders. "If you want to do this first, that's fine, too."

I looked at her. I was obviously missing something. "Do this? Do what?"

She stared at me for a second, her eyes doubtful. Suddenly she threw her hands up. "You know, I really thought that when your mind was more similar to mine, I'd be able to hear it. I guess that's never going to happen."

"Sorry."

She laughed, but there was an unhappy note in the sound. "Honestly, Anna."

"Can you please give me a clue as to what we're talking about?"

"You wanted us to be alone," she said, like this was an explanation.

"Uh, yeah."

"Because you had some things you wanted to say to me?" She braced her shoulders again, tensing like she was expecting something bad.

"Oh. Well, I guess there are things to say. I mean, there's one important thing, but I wasn't thinking about that." Seeing how frustrated she was by whatever misunderstanding was happening, I was totally honest. "I wanted to be alone with you because…well, I didn't want to be rude, but I also didn't want to do this hunting thing in front of Emmett" I confessed. "I figured there was a good chance I would screw something up, and I don't know Emmett all that well yet, but I have a feeling he would find that pretty funny."

Her eyes got wide. "You were afraid Emmett would laugh at you? Really, that's all?"

"Really. Your turn, Elsa. What did you think was happening?"

She hesitated. "I thought you were being a sweetheart. I thought you preferred to yell at me alone rather than in front of my family."

I froze up again. I wondered if that was going to happen every time I was surprised. It took me a second to thaw out.

"Yell at you?" I repeated. "Elsa—oh! You're talking about all that stuff you were saying in the car, right? Sorry about that, I—"

"Sorry? What on earth are you apologizing for now, Anna Winters?"

She looked angry. Angry and so beautiful. I couldn't guess why she was worked up. I shrugged. "I wanted to tell you then, but I couldn't. I mean, I couldn't even really concentrate—"

"Of course you couldn't concentrate—"

"Elsa!" I crossed the space between us in one invisibly fast stride and put my hands on her shoulders. "You'll never know what I'm thinking if you keep interrupting me."

The anger on her face faded as she deliberately calmed herself. Then she nodded.

"Okay," I said. "In the car—I wanted to tell you then that you didn't need to apologize, I felt horrible that you were so sad. This isn't your fault—"

She started to say something, so I put my finger over her lips.

"And it isn't all bad," I continued. "I'm…well, my head is still spinning and I know there are a million things to think about and I'm sad, of course, but I'm also good, Elsa. I'm always good when I'm with you."

She stared at me for a long minute. Slowly, she raised her hand to pull my finger away from her mouth. I didn't stop her.

"You aren't angry at me for what I've done to you?" she asked quietly.

"Elsa, you saved my life! Again. Why would I be angry? Because of the way you saved it? What else could you have done?"

She exhaled, almost like she was mad again. "How can you…? Anna, you have to see that this is all my fault. I haven't saved your life, I've taken it from you. David—Renée—"

I put my finger over her mouth again, and then took a deep breath. "Yes. It's hard, and it's going to be hard for a long time. Maybe forever, right? But why would I put that on you? Hans is the one who…well, who killed me. You brought me back to life."

She pushed my hand down. "If I hadn't involved you in my world—"

I laughed, and she looked up at me like I'd lost my mind. "Elsa—if you hadn't involved me in your world, David and Renée would have lost me three months earlier."

She stared, frowning. It was obvious she wasn't accepting any of this.

"Do you remember what I said when you saved my life in Port Angeles? The second time, or third." I barely did. The words were easier to bring back than the images. I knew it went something like this. "That you were messing with fate because my number was up? Well…if I had to die, Elsa…isn't this the most amazing way to do it?"

A long minute passed while she stared at me, and then she shook her head. "Anna, you are amazing."

"I guess I am now."

"You always have been."

I didn't say anything, and my face gave me away. Or she was just that good. She knew my face so well, she spent so much time trying so hard to understand me, that she knew immediately when there was something I wasn't saying.

"What is it, Anna?"

"Just…something Hans said." I winced. Though it was hard to see things in my old memory, the dance studio was the most recent, the most vivid.

Elsa's jaw got hard. "He said a lot of things," she hissed.

"Oh." Suddenly I wanted to punch something. But I also didn't want to let go of Elsa to do that. "You saw the tape."

Her face was totally white. Furious and agonized at the same time. "Yes, I saw the tape."

"When? I didn't hear—"

"Headphones."

"I wish you hadn't—"

She shook her head. "I had to. But forget that now. Which lie were you thinking of?" She spit the words through her teeth.

It took me a minute. "You didn't want me to be a vampire."

"No, I absolutely did not."

"So that part wasn't a lie. And you've been so upset.…I know you feel bad about David and my mom, but I guess I'm worried that part of it is because, well, you didn't expect to have me around very long, you weren't planning for that—" Her mouth flew open so fast that I put my whole hand over it. "Because if that's what it is, don't worry. If you want me to go away after a while, I can. You can show me what to do so I won't get either of us in trouble. I don't expect you to put up with me forever. You didn't choose this any more than I did. I want you to know that I'm aware of that."

She waited for me to move my hand. I did it slowly. I wasn't sure I wanted to hear what was next.

She growled softly and flashed her teeth at me—not in a smile.

"You're lucky I didn't bite you," she said. "The next time you put your hand on my mouth to say something so completely idiotic—and insulting—I will."

"Sorry."

She closed her eyes. Her arms wrapped around my waist and she leaned her head against my chest. My arms wound around her automatically. She tilted her face up so that she could look at me.

"I want you to listen to me very carefully, Anna. This—having you with me, getting to keep you here—it's like I've been granted every selfish wish I've ever had. But the price for everything I want was to take the exact same thing away from you. All of your life. I'm angry with myself, I'm disappointed in myself. And I wish so much that I could bring that tracker back to life so that I could kill him myself, over and over and over again.…

"The reason I didn't want you to be a vampire wasn't because you weren't special enough—it was because you are too special and you deserve more. I wanted you to have what we all miss—a human life. But you have to know, if it were only about me, if there were no price for you to pay, then tonight would be the best night of my life. I've been staring forever in the face for a century, and tonight is the very first time it's looked beautiful to me. Because of you.

"Don't you ever again think that I don't want you. I will always want you. I don't deserve you, but I will always love you. Are we clear?"

It was obvious that she was being totally sincere. Truth echoed in every word.

A huge grin spread across my new face. "So that's okay, then."

She smiled back. "I'd say so."

"That was the one important thing I wanted to say—just, I love you. I always will. I knew that from pretty early in. So, with that being how things are, I think we can work the rest out."

I held her face in my hands and bent up to kiss her. Like everything else, this was so easy now. Nothing to worry about, no hesitation.

It felt strange, though, that my heart wasn't beating out a crazy drum solo, that the blood wasn't stampeding through my veins. But something was zinging through me like electricity, every nerve in my body alive. More than alive—like all of my cells were rejoicing. I only wanted to hold her like this and I would need nothing else for the next hundred years.

But she broke away, and she was laughing. This time her laugh was full of joy. It sounded like singing.

"How are you doing this?" she laughed. "You're supposed to be a newborn vampire and here you are, discussing the future calmly with me, smiling at me, kissing me! You're supposed to be thirsty and nothing else."

"I'm a lot of else," I said. "But I am pretty thirsty, now that you mention it."

She leaned up on her toes and kissed me once, hard. "I love you. Let's go hunt."

We ran together into the darkness that wasn't dark, and I was unafraid. This would be easy, I knew, just like everything else.

EPILOGUE: AN OCCASION

"ARE YOU SURE THIS WAS A GOOD IDEA?" SHE ASKED.

"I should be here."

"Tell me if it gets to be too much."

I nodded.

We were a hundred feet up in the branches of a tall hemlock, sitting side by side on a thick bough. I had my arm around her and she held my other hand in both of hers. I could feel her eyes on my face. Worried.

The branch swayed under us in the wind.

About two miles away, a caravan of cars was driving up Calawah Way with all their headlights on, though it was daytime. We were southeast and upwind, carefully situated so that we wouldn't be close to any people. It was too far for Elsa to be able to hear much of what anyone was thinking, but that was okay. I was sure I'd be able to guess most of it.

The first car was the hearse. Right behind it was the familiar cruiser. My mom was in the passenger seat, and Phil was in the back. I recognized almost everyone in the cars that followed.

I couldn't watch the actual funeral—it had been held inside a church building. The graveside service would have to be enough.

The hearse was overkill. There hadn't been enough of the body that they'd found inside the burned-out shell of my truck to need a casket. If I'd been able to consult with my parents, I would have told them not to waste the money and just get an urn. But I guess if it made them feel better…Maybe they really wanted a grave to visit.

I'd seen where they were putting me—or what they thought was me. The hole was dug yesterday, right beside Grandma and Grandpa Winters. They'd both died when I was little, so I hadn't known them well. I hoped they didn't mind having a stranger next to them.

I didn't know the stranger's name. I hadn't wanted to know every detail about how Alice and Emmett had faked my death. I just knew that someone roughly my size who had been recently interred had taken one last trip. I assumed that all the identifiers had been destroyed—teeth, prints, etc. I felt pretty bad for the girl, but I suppose she didn't mind. She hadn't felt anything when the truck veered into a ravine somewhere in Nevada and burst into flames. Her family had already mourned. They had a tombstone with her name on it. Like my parents had now.

David and my mom were both pallbearers. Even from this distance, I could see that David looked twenty years older and my mom moved like she was sleepwalking. If she hadn't had the casket to hold on to, I'm not sure she would have been able to walk in a straight line across the cemetery lawn. I recognized the black dress she was wearing—she'd bought it for a formal party and then decided it aged her; she'd ended up going to the party in red. David wore a suit I'd never seen before. I would guess it was old rather than new—it didn't look like it would button, and his tie was a little too wide.

Phil helped, too, and Angela and her dad, Reverend Weber. Jeremy walked behind Angela. Even Billy Black held on to one of the brass handles while Kristoff pushed his chair.

In the crowd, I saw almost every person I knew from school. Most were in black, and lots of them were holding each other and crying. It kind of surprised me—I didn't know many of them very well. I guessed they were just crying because it was sad in general, someone dying when they were only seventeen. It probably made them think about their own mortality and all of that.

One group of people stood out—Carlisle, Emmett, Alice, Jasper, Royal, and Esme, all in light gray. They held themselves straighter than anyone else, and even from a distance their skin was obviously different…at least to a vampire's eyes.

It all seemed to take a really long time. Lowering the casket, the reverend giving some kind of speech—a sermon?—my mom and dad each throwing a flower into the hole after the casket, everyone awkwardly forming the obligatory line to speak to my parents. I wished they would let my mom leave. She was sagging into Phil, and I knew she needed to lie down. David was holding up better, but he looked brittle. Kristoff wheeled Billy over so that he was behind him, a little to the side. Billy reached forward and took David's hand. It looked like that helped some. This put Kristoff in a position where I could see his face really well, and I kind of wished I couldn't.

Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens were near the end of the line. We watched as they made their way slowly to the front. They were quick with my mom—they'd never met her before. Alice brought a chair up for my mom to sit in, and Phil thanked her; I wondered if Alice had seen that she was going to fall.

Carlisle spent more time with David. I knew he was apologizing for Elsa's absence, explaining that she'd been too distraught to come. This was more than just an excuse for Elsa to be with me today, it was laying groundwork for the next school year, when Elsa would continue to be so distraught that Esme would decide to homeschool her.

I watched as Billy and Kristoff left while David was still talking to Carlisle. Billy threw a dark glance back at the Cullens, then suddenly stared in my direction.

Of course he couldn't see us. I glanced around, trying to figure out what he was looking at. I realized that Emmett was looking at us, too—he had no trouble spotting us, and he was trying very hard not to smile; Emmett never took anything seriously. Billy must have wondered what Emmett was staring at.

Billy looked away after a few seconds. He said something to Kristoff. They continued out to their car.

The Cullens left after the Blacks. The line dwindled, and finally my parents were free. Phil took my mom away quickly; the reverend gave them a ride. David stayed alone while the funeral home employees filled the hole in. He didn't watch. He sat in the chair that my mom had used and stared away to the north.

I felt my face working, trying to find the expression that went with my grief. My eyes were too dry; I blinked against the uncomfortable feeling. When I took my next breath, the air hitched out of my throat, like I was choking on it.

Elsa's arms wrapped tight around my waist. I buried my face in her hair.

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I never wanted this for you."

I just nodded.

We sat like that for a long time.

She nudged me when David left, so I could watch him drive away.

"Do you want to go home?" she asked.

"Maybe in a little while."

"All right."

We stared at the mostly empty cemetery. It was starting to get darker. A few employees were cleaning up chairs and trash. One of them took away the big picture of me—my school picture from the beginning of junior year, back in Phoenix. I'd never liked that one much. I hardly recognized the girl with the uncertain blue eyes and the halfhearted smile. It was difficult to remember being her. Hard to imagine how she must have looked to Elsa, back in the beginning.

"You never wanted this for me," I said slowly. "What did you want? How did you see things happening—going with the fact that I was always going to be in love with you?"

She sighed. "Best-case scenario? I hoped that…I would get strong enough that we could be together while you were human. That we could be…something more than just girlfriend and girlfriend. Someday, if you didn't outgrow me, more than just wife and wife. We wouldn't be able to grow old together, but I would have stayed with you while you grew old. I would have been with you through all the years of your life." She paused for a second. "And then, when your life was over…I wouldn't have wanted to stay without you. I would have found a way to follow."

She looked startled when I laughed. It wasn't a very robust laugh, but I was surprised that it felt good.

"That was a really, really horrible idea," I told her. "Can you imagine? When people thought I was your mom? Your grandmother? I'd probably get locked up."

She smiled hesitantly. "That wouldn't have bothered me. And if anyone had locked you up, I would have busted you out."

"But you would have married me?" I asked. "Really?"

Now she smiled wider. "I still will. Alices seen it."

I blinked a few times. "Wow. I'm…super flattered. You would really marry me, Elsa?"

"Is that a proposal?"

I thought for half a second. "Sure. Sure it is. Will you?"

She threw her arms around me. "Of course I will. Whenever you want."

"Wow," I said again. I hugged her back, and kissed the top of her head. "I think I could have done better with the other version, though."

She leaned back to look at me, and her face was sad again. "Any other way ended here, too."

"But there could have been…a better goodbye." I didn't want to think about what my last words to David were, but they were constantly on my mind. It was the biggest regret I had. I was glad the memory wasn't sharp, and I only hoped it would fade more with time. "What if we had gotten married? You know, graduated together, put in a few years at college, then had a great big wedding where we invited everyone we knew? Let them all see us happy together. Give really sappy speeches—have a reason to tell everyone how much we love them. Then go away again, back to school somewhere far away.…"

She sighed. "That sounds nice. But you end up with a double funeral in the end."

"Maybe. Maybe we'd be really busy for a year, and when I'm a mature vampire and all under control, I could see them again.…"

"Riiiight," she said, rolling her eyes. "And then all we have to worry about is never aging…and getting on the bad side of the Volturi.…I'm sure that would end well."

"Okay, okay, you're right. There's no other version."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly again.

"Either way, though, Elsa. If I hadn't been dumb enough to run off and meet that tracker"—she hissed, but I kept talking—"it would only have delayed things. We still end up here. You're the life I choose."

She smiled—slowly at first, but then suddenly her smile was huge and dimpled. "It feels like my life never had a point until I found you. You're the life I was waiting for."

I took her face in my hands and kissed her while the branch swayed back and forth under us. I never could have imagined a life like this. There was a heavy price to pay, but one I would have chosen to pay even if I'd had all the time in the world to consider.

We both felt it when her phone vibrated in her pocket.

I figured it would be Emmett, sarcastically wondering if we'd gotten lost on our way back, but then Elsa answered the phone, "Carlisle?"

She listened for just one second, her eyes flying open. I could hear Carlisle's voice trilling at top speed on the other end. Elsa shoved off the branch, phone still in hand.

"I'm coming," she promised as she fell toward the ground, breaking her fall with a branch here and there. I swung down quickly after her. She was already running when I hit the ground, and she didn't slow for me to catch up.

It must be really serious.

I ran flat out, using all the extra strength that I had because I was new. It was enough to keep her in sight as she sprinted across the most direct route back to the house. My strides were almost three times as long as hers, but still, chasing her was like chasing a bolt of lightning.

It was only when we were close to the house that she let me catch up.

"Be careful," she warned me. "We have visitors."

And then she was off again. I pushed myself even harder to try to match her. I didn't have a positive perception of visitors. I didn't want her to meet them without me next to her.

I could hear snarling before we were at the river. Elsa kept her leap low and straight, hurtling up the lawn. The metal shutters were down across the glass wall. She ran around the south end of the house. I was on her heels the whole way.

She darted over the railing onto the porch. All the Cullens were there, huddled into a tight, defensive cluster. Carlisle was a few steps in front of them, though I could tell no one was happy to have him there. He was leaning toward the steps, staring forward, a pleading look on his face. Elsa lunged to his side, and something snarled in the darkness in front of the house.

I launched myself onto the porch, and Emmett yanked my arm back when I tried to go to Elsa.

"Let her translate," Emmett murmured.

Ready to rip out of her hands—not even Emmett was strong enough to stop me while I was so young—I looked out past Carlisle to see the vampires we were facing. I'm not sure what I was expecting. A large group, maybe, since the Cullens seemed so defensive.

I wasn't prepared to see three horse-sized wolves.

They weren't growling now—all of their massive heads were up, their noses pointing at me.

The one in the lead—pitch-black and larger than either of the others, though they were both three times bigger than I'd ever dreamed a wolf could get—took a step forward, his teeth bared.

"Sam," Elsa said sharply. The wolf's head swung around to face her. "You have no right to be here. We haven't broken the treaty."

The black monster-wolf snarled at her.

"They didn't attack," Carlisle said to Elsa. "I don't know what they want."

"They want us to leave. They were trying to drive you out."

"But why?" Carlisle asked.

The wolves seemed to be listening intently to every word. Could they understand?

"They thought we broke the treaty—that we killed Anna."

The big wolf growled, long and low. It sounded like a saw being dragged over chain-link.

"But—," Carlisle began.

"Obviously," Elsa answered before he could finish. "They still think we broke the treaty—that we chose to change her ourselves."

Carlisle looked at the wolves. "I can promise you, that's not how this happened."

The one Elsa called Sam kept up the long growl. Flecks of saliva dripped from his exposed fangs.

Anna," Elsa murmured. "Can you tell them? They aren't going to believe us."

I'd been frozen solid this whole time. I tried to shake off the surprise as I moved to stand by Elsa.

"I don't understand. What are they? What treaty are you talking about?" I whispered the words fast, but it was obvious from the wolves' alert ears and watchful eyes that they were listening. Wolves that understood English? Emmett had said Elsa was translating. Did she speak wolf?

"Anna," Elsa said in a louder voice. "These are the Quileute wolves. You remember the story?"

"The—" I stared at the massive animals. "They're werewolves?"

The black wolf growled louder, but the dark brown one in the back blew out a funny huff that sounded almost like a laugh.

"Not exactly," Elsa said. "A long time ago, we made a treaty with another pack leader. They think we've violated it. Can you tell them how you were transformed?"

"Uh, okay…" I looked at the black wolf, who seemed to be in charge. "I'm, uh, Anna Winters—"

"He knows who you are. You met Sam once—at the beach in La Push."

he. The cloudy human memories distracted me for a short second. I remembered the tall man at La Push. And Kristoff saying that the wolves were his brothers. That his great-great-grandfather had made a treaty with the cold ones.

"Oh," I said.

"Just explain to him what happened."

"Right." I looked at the wolf again, trying to picture the tall man somehow inside it. "Uh, a few weeks ago, there was a tracker—er, a vampire tracker—who came through here. He liked the way I smelled. The Cullens told him to back off. He left, but Elsa knew he was planning to try to kill me. I went back to Phoenix to hide out till the Cullens could…well, take care of him, you know. But the tracker figured out where I was and caught up to me. It was a game to him, a game with the Cullens—I was just a pawn. But he didn't want to just kill me. He…I guess you could say he was playing with his food. The Cullens found me before he could kill me, but he'd already bitten me. Hey—do we still have the video?" I glanced over at Elsa, who was staring at the wolves. She shook her head. I turned back to Sam. "That's too bad. The tracker was filming the whole thing. I could have shown you exactly what happened."

The wolves looked at each other. Elsa's eyes were narrowed as she concentrated on what they were thinking. Suddenly the black wolf was staring at her again.

"That's acceptable," Elsa said. "Where?"

The black wolf huffed, and then all three were backing away from the house. When they got to the edge of the trees, they turned and ran into the forest.

The Cullens all converged on Elsa.

"What happened?" Carlisle asked.

"They aren't sure what to do," Elsa said. "They were asked to clear us out. Sam is the actual chief of the tribe, but only in secret. He's not a direct descendant of the chief we made a treaty with. They want us to talk to the acting chief, the true great-grandson of the last wolf-chief."

"But—wouldn't that be Billy?" I gasped.

Elsa looked at me. "Yes. They want to meet at a neutral location so that Billy can see you and make the call."

"See me? But I can't get that close.…"

"You can do it, Anna" Elsa said. "You're the most rational newborn I've ever seen."

"It's true," Carlisle agreed. "I've never seen someone adapt so easily. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were a decade old."

It wasn't that I thought they were lying—just that maybe they didn't get the magnitude of what they were proposing. "But it's Billy. He's my dad's best friend. What if I hurt him?"

"We'll be there," Emmett said. "We won't let you do anything stupid."

"Actually…," Elsa said.

Emmett looked at her, shocked.

"They asked that we bring no more than their pack—only three. I already agreed. Anna has to be one, I have to be one, and the other needs to be Carlisle."

It was clear Emmett was hurt.

"Is that safe?" Esme asked.

Elsa shrugged. "It's not an ambush."

"Or they hadn't decided to make it one. Not yet," Jasper said.

He was standing protectively by Alice, and there was something wrong with her. She looked a little dazed.

"Alice?" I asked. I'd never seen her look like…like she was behind things instead of ahead of them.

"I didn't see them," she whispered. "I didn't know they were coming. I can't see now—I can't see this meeting. It's like it doesn't exist."

I could see that this was news only to me. The others had heard it before we'd arrived, and Elsa had already picked it out of her head.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"We don't know," Elsa answered sharply. "And we don't have time to figure it out now. We want to be there when they arrive. We don't want them to have a chance to change their minds."

"It will be fine," Carlisle said to the others, his eyes on Esme. "The wolves are just trying to protect the people here. They're heroes, not villains."

They think we're villains," Royal pointed out. "Heroes or not, Carlisle, we still have to accept that they're our enemies."

"It doesn't have to be that way," Carlisle whispered.

"And it doesn't matter either way tonight," Elsa said. "Tonight Anna needs to explain to Billy so that we don't have to make the choice between leaving Forks and raising suspicions, or getting into a fight with three barely legal wolves who are just trying to protect their tribe."

"Alice can't see if you'll be in danger," Jasper reminded her.

"We'll be fine. Billy won't want to hurt Anna."

"I'm not sure that's true now. And I know he won't have any problem watching you get hurt."

"I can hear the wolves just fine. They won't take us by surprise."

"Tell us where to go," Emmett said. "We'll keep our distance and only come in if you call."

"I promised. There's no reason to go back on my word. We need them to see that they can trust us, now more than ever. No!" Elsa said as Jasper apparently thought of another argument. "We don't have time. We'll be back soon."

Emmett grumbled, but Elsa ignored him.

"Anna, Carlisle, let's go."

I took off after her, and I could hear Carlisle do the same. Elsa didn't run as fast this time, and we both easily kept up.

"You seem very confident," Carlisle said to Elsa.

"I got a good look at their minds. They don't want this fight, either. There are eight of us. They know they won't win if it comes to actual bloodshed."

"It can't. I won't hurt them."

"I'm not in disagreement with that. But it would cause problems, if we left now."

"I know."

I listened, but my thoughts were far away, thinking about Billy and David and the fact that I should be nowhere near human beings right now. I'd heard plenty from the others about the newborn years, especially Jasper, and I wasn't ready to try to be the first exception to the rule. Sure, I hadn't had a hard time picking up most things, and everyone was surprised by how…calm I was, but this was different. Elsa had been very careful to make sure I was never tested when it came to the most important thing—not killing anyone. And if I screwed up tonight, not only would I destroy my father's world—he needed a friend now like he never had before—but I'd also ignite some kind of war between the Cullens and the giant werewolves.

I'd never felt clumsy in this new body, but suddenly that same sense of impending doom was hanging over me. Here was my chance to mess things up in a really spectacular way.

Elsa led us northeast. We crossed the freeway where it turned east toward Port Angeles and continued due north for a short time, following a smaller road. Elsa stopped in a wasteland on the side of the dark road, a large clearing recently made by loggers.

"Elsa, I don't think I can do this."

She took my hand. "We're upwind. Carlisle and I will try to stop you if something happens. Just remember not to fight us."

"What if I can't control it? What if I hurt you?"

"Don't panic, Anna, I know you can do this. Hold your breath. Run away if it gets bad."

"But Elsa—"

She put her finger to her lips and stared southward.

It wasn't long before a set of headlights turned into view.

I was expecting the car to pass. After all, the wolves wouldn't even fit inside the little sedan. But it slowly came to a stop not far from where we waited, and I realized it was Billy inside, and someone else in the driver's seat.

Then two of the wolves were there, coming from the forest on the other side of the road. They split to move around the car on either side; it looked protective. The man in the driver's seat got out and came around to get Billy. I was sure it wasn't Sam, though his hair was just as short. I stared at him, wondering if I'd met him on the beach, too, but he didn't look familiar. Like Sam, he was tall and looked strong.

Clearly he didn't just look strong. He picked Billy up in his arms and carried him like the older man weighed nothing. Kind of like the way the Cullens had thrown me around as if I were a feather pillow. Maybe the wolves—because obviously this was the gray wolf who was missing from the original trio—were stronger than normal humans, too.

Sam and the dark brown wolf led the way as the tall man carried Billy behind them. Sam stopped a good thirty yards away from where we stood.

"I can't see as well as you," I heard Billy said tartly. Sam prowled another ten yards forward.

"Hello Billy," Carlisle said.

"I can't see, Paul," Billy complained again. His voice sounded rough and weak to me; I'd been listening to no one but vampires for a month. The half-wolf, half-human pack moved slowly forward until they were only ten yards away. I held my breath, even though the light wind still blew from behind me.

"Carlisle Cullen," Billy said coldly. "I should have put it together sooner. It wasn't till I saw you at the funeral that I realized what had happened."

"But you were wrong," Elsa said.

"That's what Sam says," Billy answered. "I'm not sure he's right. billy's eyes flickered to me, and he shuddered.

"All we have is Annas word and our own. Will you believe either?" Elsa asked.

Billy harrumphed, but didn't answer.

"Please," Carlisle said, and his voice was much kinder than either of the others'. "We've never hurt anyone here. We won't start now. It would be better for us not to leave immediately, otherwise we would go without an argument."

"You don't want to look guilty," Billy agreed sarcastically.

"No, we would rather not," Carlisle said. "And in truth, we are not in breach."

Billy looked at me. "Then where is Anna? Do you expect me to believe she's inside that thing that bears some slight resemblance to Her?" Hurt was strong in his voice, but so was hate. I was surprised by his reaction. Did I really seem so different? Like I wasn't even here?

"Billy, it's me," I said.

He winced at my voice.

I was out of air. I gripped Elsa's hand and took a shallow breath. Still upwind, it was okay.

"I know I look and sound a little different, but I'm still me, Billy."

"So you say."

I raised my free hand helplessly. "I don't know how to convince you. What I told Sam was true—another vampire bit me. He would have killed me, too, except that the Cullens got there in time. They didn't do anything wrong. They were always trying to protect me."

"If they hadn't gotten involved with you, this would never have happened! David's life wouldn't be broken in pieces—you'd still be the girl I knew."

I'd had this argument before, and I was prepared. "Billy, there's something you didn't know about me.…I used to smell really good to vampires."

He flinched.

"If the Cullens hadn't been here, those other vampires would still have come to Forks. They might have killed more than me while they were here, but I can promise you, if David had survived, he would be missing me just the same. And there would be nothing left of the girl you used to know. You might not be able to see it, but I'm still here, Billy."

Billy shook his head, less angry, though, I thought. More sad. He looked at Carlisle. "I'll concede that the treaty is intact. Will you tell me your plans?"

"We'll stay here another year. We'll leave after Elsa and Alice graduate. It will look natural that way."

Billy nodded. "All right. We'll wait. I apologize for our infraction tonight. I…" He sighed. "It was a mistake. I was…overwrought."

"We understand," Carlisle said softly. "There was no harm done. Maybe even some good. It's better to understand each other as much as possible. Perhaps we could even talk again some—"

"The treaty is unbroken," Billy said in a hard voice. "Don't ask any more from us."

Carlisle nodded once.

Billy looked at me again and his face fell.

The breeze shifted.

Elsa and Carlisle both grabbed my arms at the same time. Billy's eyes went wide and then narrowed angrily. Sam snarled once.

"What are you doing to her?" Billy demanded.

"Protecting you," Elsa snapped.

The dark brown wolf took a half-step forward.

I took a quick breath, preparing myself to run if it was bad.

It was bad.

Billy's scent was like fire as it rushed down my throat, but it was more than just pain. It was a thousand times more appealing than any of the animals I'd hunted, not even in the same class. It was like someone waving a perfectly cooked filet mignon in front of me after I'd been living on stale crackers for a year. But more than that. I'd never tried drugs, but I thought Elsa's heroin comparison might be the closer version.

And yet, while I wanted to quench my thirst…badly…I knew instantly that I didn't have to. I wouldn't want to be any closer to him, no, but I was pretty sure I could handle it even then. I'd expected that when the newborn thing reared its ugly head, I wouldn't be able to think or decide. That I wouldn't be a person anymore, I'd be an animal.

I was still me. A very thirsty me, but me.

It only took half a second for me to figure all this out.

"No, don't worry, Billy," I said quickly. "I'm new to this, and they don't want me to…lose it, you know? But I'm okay."

Elsa slowly took her hand off my arm. Carlisle looked at me, his face kind of…awed.

Billy's eyes were still narrowed, but I could see he was confused, too. He hadn't expected me to act so much like myself, maybe. I decided to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity. I took another breath, and though it hurt just as badly, I knew I was fine.

"So it sounds like I won't have a chance to talk to you again," I said. "And I'm sorry it's that way. I guess I don't understand all the rules yet. But since you're here, if I could just ask one favor…"

His face got hard again. "What?"

"My dad." My breath did that weird hitching thing again and I had to take a second before I could go on. Elsa put her hand on my back, but it was for comfort this time. "Please, just…take care of him? Don't let him be alone too much. I never wanted to do this to him…or my mom. That's the hardest part of all this. For me, it's fine. I'm good. If only there was anything I could do to make it better for them, I would, but I can't. Could you please watch out for him?"

Billy's face went blank for a minute. I couldn't read it. I wished I could hear like Elsa did.

I would have done that regardless," Billy finally said.

"I know. I couldn't help asking, though. Do you think…you could let me know if there ever is something I can do? You know, from behind the scenes?"

He nodded slowly. "I suppose there may be some of Anna left after all."

I sighed. He was not going to believe it if I told him that all of me was left, that there was just more added on top.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?"

I froze for a tenth of a second, surprised by the offer. I could tell Elsa and Carlisle were surprised, too. But there was something more I wanted.

"If…," I began. "Will you ever tell Kristoff about any of this?" I looked at the enormous wolves flanking Billy. "Or will it always be a secret?"

I didn't understand the look that crossed his face now. "Kristoff will know soon enough."

"Oh. Okay. Well, if he can know about me, can you tell him that I'm happy? It's not so bad, this whole vampire thing."

Billy shuddered. "I'll tell him what you said."

"Thanks, Billy."

He nodded, then he looked at the tall boy carrying him and jerked his chin back the way they'd come.

As they turned, I saw a tear escape the corner of his eye. The wolves backed away from us, too.

I hoped it wasn't the last time I would see Billy. I hoped that when Kristoff was in on the secret, I would be allowed to see him, too. Or at least talk to him again. I hoped that maybe someday the wolves would see that the Cullens were heroes, too.

Billy's car drove away. The wolves melted into the trees. I waited until Elsa was done listening to their departure.

"Tell me everything," I said.

She smiled. "I will when we get home—so I don't have to repeat all of it. There was a lot." She shook her head, like she was amazed.

We started running. Not so fast as before.

"Huh. Actual werewolves. This world is even weirder than I thought," I said.

"Agreed," Elsa said.

"That's right—you thought there weren't werewolves here anymore. That must have been kind of a shock."

"They weren't the most shocking thing I saw tonight."

I looked at her, then at Carlisle. Carlisle smiled like he was in on some joke.

"I mean, I knew you were special, Anna, but that was something else back there. Jasper's not going to believe it."

"Oh. But…" I stared at her. "You said you knew I could do this."

She dimpled. "Well, I was pretty sure the wind would hold steady."

Carlisle laughed, then he exchanged a glance with Elsa. He sped up as Elsa slowed. In a second, we were alone.

I kept pace with Elsa, and stopped when she stopped. She put her hands on either side of my face.

"It's been a long day. A hard one. But I want you to know that you're extraordinary, and I love you."

I pulled her tight against me. "I can handle anything as long as you're with me."

She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Then here I will stay."

"Forever," I said.

"Forever," she agreed.

I leaned up until my lips found hers.

Forever was going to be amazing.


End file.
